Ok I am in the process of looking at rebuilding my bottom end with new main, big end, small end, and camshaft bearings, new pistons, new rings and all the associated gaskets, I am unsure whether I should pull the engine out, dissmantle it and take the bare block down to be honed then measure the bores to work out if I need oversize pistons or just replace the components and leave the block alone? it would be a lot quicker to just swap the components with new ones than to have the hassle of honing measuring and ordering specific size components, has anyone done a rebuild without honing the block?

Pull it down & mesure it. mesure the piston to bore clearance & if the bore is round if it is all in specs than give her a hone & remesure it.

Measure first. If the bore is within service limits & you decide to simply re-ring the pistons, then always hone. The hone job is not to straighten or enlarge the bore, it is just to glaze break, & give the rings a fresh surface to run on. The tiny scratches that the hone makes hold oil & allow the rings to do their job properly.

A great many people have rebuilt engines without honing the bore, & in far too many cases, the end result was much less than it should have been, even if the shade tree mechanic didn't know it.

If you dont have a noticable lip in your bore then just give it a final hone. This will enable you to use the same size pistons or if your old ones arnt that bad then re-use them. A ordinary drill set on a very low speed with the correct hone (final is a very fine grit). You can use ordinary house hold kero as a lube for the drill or even diesel fuel. If you can practice on a crap block then go to work on your good block. you are aiming for a cross hatching pattern of about 120 Degreese. GOOD LUCK.

I think my engine hone cost around $80.

The trick was getting the up and down motion right with the drill going to get a good pattern.

I don't know if I got it right in my practice attempts, so I piked out of re-building the bottom end of my current A14....but it can't be that hard - even mechanics can do it!

hmmmm sounds like a job for my local speedway engine builder Bryan Moyle, he can do the job for an extra $300 more than I can do it but at least it will be done right, he will also machine the crank and bearing journals if they need it which is reassuring for me, when you live in WA an A series engine can be a hard sourced part.
So if this one gets arsed up I am packing up and moving to the eastern states! I can't afford the courier costs anymore!

for $300 sounds like a good hone... i would do it while its all out, the best chances of getting those new rings to seat properly.

Quote: Mate, there is so much action going on over here that we get the sun to come up 2 hours earlier than at your place just so we can fit it all into a day.